The Hunt for Home
by Ava Miranda Dakedavra
Summary: "How does what work out?" the short Hufflepuff asked. She gave a sigh, "Oh please. Being friends! Surely, that must be difficult to do if you're in separate Houses." "Look, Sweetheart - we're not friends." Hermione is stuck in the seventies, with no idea how she came to be there, why the Marauders are in different Houses, or how to get back. So many questions, so little time.
1. Kidnap the - What's a Marauder?

**I know, I know, _I know_ that I shouldn't be writing this. I have Werewolf Worries, and Begin to Breathe, and You're Brave, and Feet Off, _but if I don't start writing it now I'll regret it until the day I die._ I will be on my deathbed and my grandkids and my kids will be around me and I'll cough and say "I wish I had wrote that one story" and they'll sigh and go "Grandma, shush, it's the meds talking." And I'll sit up and say something cool and fandom-related but that's beyond the point. _Regrets._**

**PS - it's AU and I don't know how often I'll update it.**

* * *

Everything started out normal. There was the walk down to breakfast, the usual conversations at the House table, questions about homework, bets on the Quidditch game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff later, and walks back to the dorms from the library to return books. This was all entirely normal, and he would've thought nothing out of the ordinary if somebody hadn't grabbed his arm and pulled him into a secret passageway.

"Oy, what's the big idea?" Remus asked as the door shut and he blinked at the four other inhabitants of the small room with just enough light. One was a short boy, his hair a light color and his eyes a dull grey, frowning with his arms crossed over his chest. Another was tall, with long black hair and an annoyed frown, hands shoved deep into his pants pockets. The third had short, messy black hair and hazel eyes behind black-rimmed glasses, looking curiously at them. The fourth was a girl his age, who had insanely curly brown hair and big brown eyes, smiling at the four boys that she had obviously pulled into the room.

"Great, now that everybody's here, let's get – hold up," she stopped herself, looking at the short boy, the tallest, and himself curiously, as if something were off. "What's this?"

"Exactly my question," the tallest frowned as Remus finally glared at the girl. "Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?"

She frowned before stepping up and glaring at him, "Don't you snap at me, Sirius Black, give me a minute and I'll start explaining."

Remus arched an eyebrow over at him. As he didn't have any classes with Slytherins, and never really ran into them (other than their occasional name calling, and then he never really bothered to learn any of their names) he didn't know him. The girl bit her lower lip and her eyes darted over him once more, her eyebrows scrunching down over her eyes.

"Hi, I would very much like to get out of here, thank you," the Gryffindor, James Potter, said, looking at her pointedly, "Claustrophobia and all that, can't stand it."

She sighed and snapped her fingers, the room expanding a little as they jumped and looked around. They'd been at that school for seven years and never once knew about this passageway and that you could snap your fingers and make it bigger. She gave a hum as James frowned at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do you understand claustrophobia? That doesn't really get rid of it," he told her.

"Of course I understand it," she frowned back, "I have it too, so I know it helps. Now explain something – why are you in different Houses? How does that work out?"

"How does what work out?" the short Hufflepuff asked.

She gave a sigh, rolling her eyes as if they were dense, "Oh please. Being friends! Surely, that must be difficult to do if you're in separate Houses."

They all stared at her as if she'd grown an extra head before Sirius spoke up.

"Look, Sweetheart," he began, "Maybe you hit your head, maybe you're on some new medication, but – we're not friends. I've never had a conversation with any of them before. I don't know them – well, I know Potter, but only because we're on Quidditch and we have to listen to "So-and-So scored a point!" and all of that shit. Can't say we're friends anyway."

She stared at him strangely before cursing, clutching her hair and biting her lip, "This is barmy. This is mad. Insane, crazy, ludicrous." She gave a growl and scrunched her hair up, stopping with a huff before arching an eyebrow at them. "You think I'm insane, don't you?"

"Honestly? Hell yeah," James spoke up as Remus nodded with him.

"Fine," she smirked, shrugging before turning to Sirius, pointing at him, "You never wanted to be in Slytherin, and you don't hate 'Mudbloods.'" Sirius immediately went pale and stared at her as she whirled around to the Hufflepuff, "You, Peter, have probably thought about joining the Death Eaters."

"What?" James and Remus asked as Sirius immediately took to glaring at the chubby boy.

"I-I've never!" he argued before her questioning glare sought him out, "I've thought about it, for moments, but I've never actually considered _joining_ those freaks."

"Great, prove me wrong," she demanded before turning to James, "You have a weird birthmark on your left elbow."

"How the _hell_ did you know that?" he asked, covering his elbow, although it couldn't possibly have been seen through his jumper. She gave a grin at him before turning to Remus, whose eyes were wide and skin had gone pale, the few scars on his face feeling as though they were burning and giving his biggest secret away. She stared at him as he stared back, biting her lip before shaking her head.

"Look, my name is Hermione," she said, breaking her gaze away from him. "I was thrown back from the nineties and thought that if there was _anybody_ who could help me, it'd be the Marauders."

"The what?" they all seemed to chorus, although Remus's tongue felt as though it had swollen.

She laughed at herself and grinned, "Never mind. Anyway, that's why I sort of kidnapped you, I thought you were the same people that I knew about. Obviously not, something's changed." She gave an absentminded frown, rubbing a small patch of skin on her wrist. "I'd still really appreciate your help though, if you're willing."

"Yeah," Remus spoke up, shrugging as they looked at him in surprise, "She needs help. I'm not going to refuse it, especially not after she didn't tell you my biggest secret."

"Yeah, what's his?" Sirius asked, obviously miffed that his was blabbed, although it wasn't a big deal.

She frowned at Sirius, "I'm not telling. He can tell you if he wants."

"I'll help too," James shrugged as Peter nodded.

Sirius gave a sigh, rolling his eyes and frowning at her as she frowned back. "I don't like you, but I'll help, if only to get you out of my hair."

She gave a smirk, "Well, if that isn't the spirit of human compassion, I don't know what is." She gave another grin as he gave a glare at her, "You guys know where the Room of Requirement is?"

"Err, yeah," Remus said as the others stared at her blankly.

"Great," she didn't appear to see their dilemma, "You four can pop up there when you've got time, and we can get started." And with that, she stretched her foot out to tap a stone in the wall, opening up the doorway they'd all be pulled out of, before she tapped another stone on the opposite wall and began to walk down a dark hallway, the wall closing up after she'd gone.

The four looked between each other curiously, wondering if she'd been real, before deciding that she probably was, or else they were all due for a room at St. Mungo's.


	2. It's Not Easy Being Me

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyric - _**_"Come into my world, I've got to show, show, show you. Come into my bed, I've got to know, know, know you. I have dreams about orca whales and owls, but I wake up in fear. You will never be my fool, you will never be my fool." – Regina Spektor, "Hotel Song." _

* * *

After dinner, the four had sneaked away and allowed Remus to lead them to where the Room of Requirement was. The walk was long and awkward, and Remus mentally checked through all of the possible passages that could escape the torture, but that would only draw it out painfully. Sirius coughed and winced, trying to find something to say.

"So, uhh, good Quidditch game," he tried.

Peter snorted, frowning at him, "Speak for yourself. We lost, five to two hundred and fifty. I don't know why Crabbins can't sort himself out and _hit the bloody Bludgers_."

"Because Crabbins has the mental capacity of a toad," Remus answered, shaking his head as he walked backwards to talk to him, knowing the hallways easily. "I sit by him in Charms, unfortunately, and he always gets 'T's on all of his papers. Plus, we're Ravenclaw – the lot of us know how to hit weaknesses and seek out flaws. We're kind of like Athena, the Greek goddess of war strategy? Plus, her symbol was an owl, that's kind of ironic."

"Why haven't you ever tried out for Quidditch then?" James questioned.

He gave a shrug, turning back around to avoid their eyes, "I'd get knocked off in ten minutes. One of my flaws, I suppose."

"Yeah, but he's got a point about Crabbins," James said, "I think every House knows he's a rubbish Beater. Why don't you guys get a new one, anyway?"

"Because everyone else would be a rubbish Beater," Peter admitted dully. "We kept waiting for the next batch of volunteers to be better, but they were worse than Crabbins. And besides – your Houses get some laughs, so whatever."

"Gotta say that I've never even seen you two until that barmy girl kidnapped us," Sirius shrugged, nodding to Remus and Peter.

"Yeah, I kind of keep to myself," Remus shrugged. He started to slow down, arching an eyebrow at the doors before looking back at them. They all waved for him to try it, to where he winced and began to open it, sticking his head through and blinking. The far wall was covered in bookshelves, a hallway separating them. The right wall had a balcony, which was magically made to look like the weather outside, windows covering the whole wall. There were several couches and cushy chairs, a round hearth in the center of it, a small fire in it. To the left wall, there was a kitchen, although he guessed that there probably wasn't any food in there, as the Room of Requirement didn't provide food, although she'd probably nicked some from the kitchens earlier.

She came striding through the hallway in between the bookshelves as they all stepped through, blinking at the room. She was dressed differently, in shorts and a loose long sleeved shirt, a green apple in her mouth.

"Hey," she greeted, taking the apple out of her mouth, her eyes brightening when she saw them, "Didn't expect you lot to pop in so quick."

Sirius gave a snort, glaring at her, "The sooner I get rid of you, the better."

"It's nice to see you too," she smiled, taking another bite out of the apple before waving them to follow her down the hallway, going past two doors before coming into a circular room at the end, candles protruding from the same stone as from the previous room and the hallway, a large desk with parchment and quills littering its surface, a blackboard with some writing already on it. She sat in an office chair, slinging her legs over the side as she crossed them, conjuring up chairs for them, pausing to chew and swallow before talking, "I suspect you have numerous questions, so let's get this out of the way."

James took a seat first, frowning at her, "What the hell is going on?"

She gave a sigh, looking at him sadly, "I honestly don't know. I go to sleep in my bed at my friend's house, and the next thing I know, I wake up in a field. I wandered around the town and found a calendar with the date. Came here, snuck through passages, and viola."

"Why didn't you go to Dumbledore?" Peter asked, sitting near James.

"Because I was closer – ish – with Dumbledore in my time than you lot," she shrugged, "Actually, I didn't even _meet_ one of you, just stories."

"Why did you think we were friends?" Sirius asked, still standing by the doorway.

She sighed, "Because you _are_. You were all in Gryffindor, you all became friends, one of you married her and had him and bam! Chain reaction! I just don't understand what's going on. I don't know why I'm here and I don't know why this is happening and I really don't know what's going on." She rubbed her eyes, looking tired and worn out, a frown on her face.

"Welcome to the club," Remus spoke up, standing and looking over the blackboard, "We meet every other Tuesday. Bring snacks." She snorted, standing and walking to his side, biting into the apple.

"I'm surprised you can read this," she admitted after a few moments, "My handwriting is rubbish."

He grinned, "Not that hard, once I figured out your 'r's and 'n's." He looked over at her, "You've got stuff written about war and Death Eaters. Care to share?"

"Nope," she said quickly, popping the 'p' sound in it. She glanced over at him as he frowned, "Not because I don't want you to know, believe me, I'd tell you, I'd just really not have nightmares tonight."

"You were in a war?" Sirius asked, looking over her and thinking that there was no way this petite girl could've fought in anything.

She grinned, "One of the Golden Trio. Everybody thought we'd save the day. Well, we did – I just think it's silly that they call us that. Let's see, Harry was the Chosen One – he let that one get to his head in sixth year, I smacked him out of it – Ron was the Brawny One – had to smack him out of that for months before he stopped calling himself that – and they called me 'the Brightest Witch of My Age,'" she snorted, rolling her eyes, "Rubbish."

"How?" James asked, shrugging, "You seem pretty smart."

"I have no idea how I got twenty years back in time or how to get back," she said pointedly, holding up her index fingers for silence, "Let that sink in for a moment."

"Well, it doesn't mean you're stupid," Peter spoke up as Remus squinted at the chalk.

"Do you have physics theories written on here?" he asked absently, "Complex physics theories, I might add."

"What's a physics?" Sirius asked, tilting his head curiously, "Is that one of those people like Professor Hopper who claims they have 'the Eye' or whatever?"

Hermione snorted, covering her mouth so she wouldn't spit her food out. Remus gave a laugh as well, grinning over at Sirius.

"That's a psychic," he said, "Physics is the study of forces and qualities. It's science."

"What's a science?" he asked blankly.

"The study of life, what we're made up of," Hermione answered. "Atoms, protons, neutrons, Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Plutonium, condensation, precipitation, the three states of matter, that stuff?"

He only frowned at her, "I'm from a strict Pureblood family. If this is all Muggle stuff, it's not my fault. If not, I'm just stupid."

"Muggle stuff," Remus said before James stood and looked over her board too, squinting a few times and tilting his head others.

"_Time Turner malfunction – where'd the Turner come from, how'd it malfunction?_" James began to read aloud. "_Prank – would it be George or a timed one left over from Fred? Death Eaters – I thought we got rid of them, why the hell can't they leave me alone?_"

"I can't think of anything," Hermione groaned, flopping back into the office chair and chucking her apple in the bin, "This all appears to be at random. But what I can't figure out is how you're all in different Houses now that I'm here. I mean, if something changed after I showed up, I could understand that, but the Sorting Hat wouldn't have changed its mind six years ago."

"The Sorting What?" they echoed, making her sit up and blink.

"You…didn't get Sorted by the Hat?" she seemed incredibly shocked by this.

"No," Peter blinked. "We send in information when we get our letters, a fingerprint, they send back what House we're Sorted into."

"Although," James began, "I remember my dad saying something about that Hat thing when I was younger."

"Yeah, mine too," Sirius nodded, "Something about tradition and how it's foolish to get rid of tradition."

"Why'd they get rid of it?" she said this loudly, her voice going up a few octaves.

"I dunno, something about a trial run," Sirius shrugged, "It stuck for a while, I heard McGonagall talking to Flitwick about reintroducing it next year."

"_What?_" she asked shrilly, making Remus wince as Sirius frowned and covered his ears. "What – why would – _who started this?_"

"Well, if you'd stop shrieking, I'd tell you," Sirius huffed before James answered.

"I remember the names Dolohov and Yaxley," he said before she went pale and slowly sat back down, "Hey, you okay?"

"Those were Death Eaters in my time," she said thickly, "Either they went back in time too, or he had them in this time do – but how – he shouldn't – " She kept cutting herself off, hiding her eyes with her hand, taking deep breaths before popping back up. "Alright. That explains that. They saw your names and gave you Houses you shouldn't have been in. Well, except for James. They made sure you wouldn't be friends. Okay – but why am I here?"

Sirius finally sat down as Remus leaned his head against the wall, looking over at them with a frown. Hermione had her feet up on the desk, staring at her toes as James stared at the ceiling, Peter and Sirius staring at the small coffee table.

"You said you were important in taking them down, right?" Remus asked, making her nod, "Well, maybe they're trying to rise again. Take out the 'Brightest Witch of Her Age' – they've got a better chance."

She hummed, "It seems possible, but we've got – we _had_ every Death Eater in Azkaban. It'd either be spouses or girlfriends or boyfriends or family members or sons or daughters, but even then they wouldn't dare try something, as everyone's still on edge. We'd only had the War a few months ago. And how would they get to me? Potion, spell, charm, curse – and even then, if they could get to me that easily, why not just kill me?"

"You're giving me a headache," Peter complained, clapping his hands over his eyes, "Too much deep thinking. I'm not used to it."

"Me either," Sirius barked a laugh as James chuckled, "I don't think there's anything here we're used to." He looked over at Remus, who was still thinking. "Except maybe you."

"Huh?" he blinked, coming back to reality.

"You are the only other person in this room who knew what physics and science and whatever else was," James shrugged.

"Hah," he smirked, "I think that's the only thing I'm used to. Everything else is very, very new."

Hermione gave a grin and a short bow from her seating position, "Thank you. I'm taking that as a compliment." As they chuckled, she sighed and gave them weary smiles, "You can go, if you want. You have classes tomorrow, right?" At their nods, she waved them away, "Go, go get sleep, do homework you've set aside for the last minute."

As James, Peter and Sirius looked at her curiously, she grinned, "Harry and Ron did the same. Goodnight, goodnight, parting is such sweet sorrow." She then wrinkled her nose as Remus gave her a grin and arched his eyebrow. "I know, I know, Hermione quoting Shakespeare – it's ironic, I get it."

"I don't," Peter announced, furrowing his eyebrow as they filed out through the large doors.

"Hermione is a character in one of Shakespeare's plays," Remus said before she could, "She married Leontes and he killed her because he thought she was cheating on him. She came back at the end of the play as a statue."

"Lovely," James snorted before waving to Hermione, "G'night. See you later."

"Bye," she waved back as they all left. Once the door was shut and silence ensued for several moments, she deflated and flopped onto one of the couches, staring at the fire sadly and playing with her fingers. In all honesty, she was alone and scared as to what would happen to not only her, but also her friends.

It was rough being Hermione. Either of them.

* * *

**I like making literary references. So sue me. But I doubt you'll get much.**


	3. And It's Alright

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyrics – _**_"But I still wake up, I still see your ghost, oh Lord I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh, what do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights I don't know anymore. This is it boys, this is war, what are we waiting for? Why don't we break the rules already? I was never one to believe the hype, save that for the black and white. Try twice as hard and I'm half as liked, but here they come again to jack my style." – FUN., "Some Nights"_

* * *

As Remus unceremoniously dropped onto his bed, so did somebody else. He groaned and shoved his head under his pillow as his shoulder was poked and prodded.

"Remus!" the poker demanded, standing on either side of his torso and bending, so that his face was near his ear. "Where have you been?"

"Out," he muffled tiredly. They dropped off and he pulled his head out of his pillow to see that he was frowning at him. His hair seemed to fly around his head, a light blonde color that was nearly white. Apparently this answer wasn't good enough, judging by the look on his face. "Library," Remus lied, "Lost track of time."

Xeno arched an eyebrow before shrugging, heading over to his own bed, "Alright. Fine. Totally believable."

Remus nearly sighed until he continued.

"Unless I was at the library," he hummed before hopping on his bed, looking at his friend dully as he crossed his legs. "So, feel like telling the truth?"

"Nope," Remus answered, hugging his pillow now with a frown.

"Did you get detention?" he asked, "Because it's alright if you did."

"No, I didn't get detention."

"Did you need some extra credit thing for some class you're failing?"

"No, and I'm doing better than you in classes," he snapped.

"Yeah, I know, you annoying prick," he smiled as Remus gave a smug grin, either at being better at him in classes, or for not being able to tell why he was out. He thought for a few more moments, during which Remus threatened to drop off, still in jeans and a jumper, before Xeno snapped his fingers and beamed. "Is it for some girl?"

"What?" Remus was suddenly wide awake, gaping at him as he beamed and nodded.

"It is, isn't it?" he said gleefully as he saw worry etched onto his friend's face, "What's her name? What House is she in? Ooh, what year is she in? Remus, are you a cradle-robber?"

"What?" he repeated before shaking his head, "No, no, it's not – " He glared at him, "Did somebody give you sugar? You're acting hyped up."

"Don't try to twist this around on me," he said defensively, "Are you, or are you not, sneaking out to see some girl?"

He sighed, "We'll talk about it in the morning."

"No, let's talk about it _now_!" he demanded, "You'll try to avoid it in the morning!" As Remus was silent, he sighed and pouted, "I did."

"Did what?" he questioned sleepily.

"Gave myself sugar," he admitted, somewhat ashamedly, as Remus snorted.

"Go to sleep, barmy nutter," he chuckled. After a few hours of Xeno attempting to pry information out of him, he finally dropped off and went to sleep. Although, Remus was having a much more difficult time in doing the same. It seemed that the day kept running through his head, his brain trying to figure out why she'd been dropped off _here_, why her, why them, just so many 'why, why, why's that he finally sat up and started putting on his shoes. Although he was silent enough for the other two in their dorms, the same didn't count for Xeno.

"Where you goin'?" he mumbled sleepily, "Is it breakfast?"

"No," Remus winced, "Go back to sleep."

Xeno flopped back and looked at the clock, "It's, like, one in the morning, mate."

"I know – go back to sleep," he demanded once more.

"You're going out after curfew!" he hissed tiredly with a frown. As Remus headed towards the dorm door, he sighed, waving at him, "Fine. Tell her I said 'hi' and that if you get detention I won't feel sorry at all."

"Whatever," he grinned.

The walk to the Room of Requirement was actually rather easy. All he had to do was take shortcuts and stay out of the light, and it was nothing. He knew which routes Filch and Mrs. Norris took, although you wouldn't hear him admit it aloud. When he started getting closer to the doors, however, he started to think this was a bad idea. She was probably asleep and would be rather cross with him if he woke her up just because _he_ couldn't sleep. Still, maybe she was frantic about wanting to get back home and wouldn't stop to sleep.

"Only one way to find out," he whispered to himself, opening the door and stepping through. He looked around the living area, the fire having died at some point. He made a noise in the back of his throat when he hit his knee against one of the couches, and blinked when there was suddenly a wand at his throat.

He stared in wide-eyed surprise at the look in Hermione's eyes, one that looked as though she didn't know him and saw him as a threat. That look and the combination of one of her hands holding his shirt, and the wand at his throat, made him curse. "_Shit_."

At this, she blinked and gasped, flinging her wand on the couch and taking several steps back, covering her mouth with her hands. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, I'm so – are you okay? I didn't mean – you shouldn't have snuck up on – why are you here anyway?"

"You were seriously in a war, weren't you?" he questioned, one hand rubbing absentmindedly at where the tip of her wand had been. "I mean, you just – that was – wow."

"_Wow_?" she repeated incredulously, "If you hadn't said something and snapped me out of it, I could've – I don't even want to _know _what I could've done to you!"

"But still!" he grinned, "The only thing I can do that's even remotely like that is – well, nothing!" At her questioning look, he continued, "We get rubbish Defense professors year after year, and we learn spells, not maneuvers."

"Yeah, well, if you ever want reflexes, sign up for a war," she responded dully before looking at him curiously, "What were you doing here anyway? It's nearly two in the morning."

"I wanted to see if maybe I could help more," he tried, not even knowing why he'd walked up there at that time, "We can't go back and change how we were Sorted, but we can still try to get you home."

"It won't _be_ home unless all of you are in Gryffindor," she frowned, hands on her hips.

"We can lie if we ever meet you," he shrugged.

"McGonagall, Slughorn, Flitwick, Pomfrey, Sprout and Dumbledore? They don't even know I'm here, how would they know to lie?"

"We can tell them after you leave," he said.

"But even then – you four were friends, from everything everybody has ever told us about you lot, you were best friends. You can't lie about that," she frowned, grabbing a few books off of the hearth and shelving them.

"Then we've got to find some way to fix everything – the Gryffindor stuff and the friendship thing," he said, "You weren't planning on doing it all alone, were you?"

She sighed, "I don't even _have_ a plan. Finding you guys and trying to get you to help me was it. That's all I'd figured out." She groaned and thumped her head on a shelf before turning back around to him, "I just want answers. If there's an answer key out there for this, I want it to drop down from the sky and land in my lap." She slid down the bookshelf and pouted up at him as he began to move towards her, unsure whether he should try to reassure her or sit down by her and pat her shoulder or just stand there awkwardly and let her continue talking. The last option seemed a lot easier. "All of my life, the answers have come easy to me, if not I looked in a book and I found the answer."

"Is that why you seem to have every single book about time travelling that's ever been written in this room?" he asked.

She gave a weary laugh, "Kind of. I have stuff about alternate universes, spell and curse malfunctions, nearly everything that could possibly relate to my situation."

He gave a smile before frowning, glancing back over her as she looked at him curiously, "Look, I've got to ask. Do you really know my 'big secret'?"

"Well, I think I do," she admitted, running her hands through her hair, spreading her fingers to get rid of snags, "I mean, I thought you were in Gryffindor and everything too, so that doesn't mean I'm one-hundred percent certain that it is the same."

"Is it about how I got the scars?" He remembered how many times people had asked about them and he had to brush it aside as if it were no big deal because – even though, to him, it was – they'd make it into a big deal. He had one cutting through his right eyebrow, one on his top lip, another along his jaw. And that was just on his face – not even counting how many others there were elsewhere on his body.

She bit her lip, looking up at him, "Yeah."

"And are you okay with that?" he asked after a few moments, crossing his arms over his chest.

She grinned, "Yeah. It's not like you can help it. Why should I give you grief over it?"

He blinked at her before smiling, "I think you're the only person in this entire world who has that mindset. Thanks."

"Don't thank me for what good people should do," she said as she stood, "You should head back to your dorms. You have class in a few hours."

"Alright," he nodded before she stopped him on his way out.

"You can take a couple of books if you want," she called over her shoulder, heading down the hall, "I don't have late fees."

He laughed before grabbing one, walking out of the large doors and back to his dorm, where Xeno had curled up into a tight ball under his sheets. Remus quietly put the book in his bag, planning to read it during the day.

* * *

**Did you guys know that I don't have much planned out for this story so I'm really just rolling with it?**

**Now you know~**


	4. Secrets

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyrics: _**_"She was lying on the floor counting stretch marks. She hadn't been a virgin and he hadn't been a god, so she named the baby Elvis to make up for the royalty he lacked. From then on it was turpentine and patches, from then on it was cold Campbell's from a can. And they were just two jerks playing with matches, 'cause that's all they knew how to play." – Regina Spektor, "Braille"_

* * *

Xeno stretched and craned his neck, trying to see over his friend's shoulder as he read, neither of them paying attention to the lecture. As a matter of fact, nobody in their class was, considering it was History of Magic and everything that was said was monotonous and boring. Somehow, Binns made a war between dwarves and mice sound dull.

Remus had been reading that book all day, and he couldn't figure out what was so important that he jumped for it whenever he had the chance. He'd tried to see the spine or the cover, but the words had been worn off with age. He squinted and pursed his lips, Remus unaware of what he was doing.

Xeno was finally giving up and quietly grabbed a sheet of parchment, scribbling on it before sliding it into his friend's line of sight. Remus blinked and looked over at him before folding the corner of the page and set it on the other side of him, reading over it as Xeno impatiently waited. Remus sighed and glanced at him dully before answering, sliding it back to him and grabbing his book again.

This went back and forth for nearly the entire class period. By the time the bell had rang and they were free, they were arguing.

"It's none of your business, so shove off!" Remus declared, waving him off as they walked back to the Ravenclaw dorms.

"I feel like we never talk anymore!" Xeno exclaimed, following him down the hallways, "Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"Because it's my business, not yours, so get over it!" he yelled, huffing at the portrait and waiting impatiently for the riddle.

"How many bricks does it take to complete a building made of brick?" it asked politely as Xeno finally caught up with him.

Remus thought for a moment before answering, "Only one – the last one."

"Quick answer," it complimented before swinging open, both boys walking through the common room and up the staircase, dropping their bags on their respective beds, although Remus kept the book and turned on his heel to walk out, although Xeno flung himself at the door and blocked the exit.

"No, I want to know!" Xeno demanded, "Remus, it took me forever to figure out what was wrong when we were twelve, and you _know _how much I hate it when it takes me forever to figure things out!" He looked pleadingly at his friend as he faltered in his frown, "Please? I won't tell at all. I promise – cross my heart, hope to die, may a horndull eat my eye."

Remus blinked only once at the comment before dragging his free hand across his face, "I don't know if I can…."

"Of course you can!" Xeno exclaimed, "C'mon, I'm your best buddy, you can trust me!"

"It's not a matter of trust," Remus told him slowly, "I just don't know if I should tell anyone. See, it's not exactly my story to tell."

"Oh," Xeno blinked before frowning, "Well then, why didn't you say so?"

"What?" Remus exclaimed, blinking.

"If I'd have known you were somebody's confidant, I wouldn't have bugged you!" he snorted, rolling his eyes, "I'm not mean. Now go – do your secret stuff." He flopped lazily on his bed, waving him along as Remus frowned at him before throwing his hands in annoyance and walking out.

* * *

"So – yeah, I came up with nothing," Sirius announced, flopping on the couch as Hermione walked around them, book in hand and frown on her face. Remus was watching her progress, James doing the same as Peter continued to read through his book.

"There's so many things," Hermione murmured before shutting the book and sighing, running a hand through her hair, "I don't know half of them."

"Well," James began, "Aside from us supposedly being in the wrong Houses?" At her nod, he smiled, "Well, sit down, we've got a while."

She managed a small smile and sat at the end of a couch, looking expectantly at them.

"Well, Professor Binns is the History of Magic professor," James began.

"Same," she interjected.

"Alright then…" he hummed before brightening, "I'm Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"

"Same," she sighed, leaning into the couch and setting her feet up on the fireless hearth.

"Uhm…" James drummed his fingers on his knee, trying to figure up something else.

"Evans and Snape are dating," Sirius said dully, flicking lint off of his shirt.

"_What?_" Hermione asked, standing up and looking at them seriously, "They – are – _what?_"

"Uhh – dating," Peter said after a few moments.

"Why? Why haven't you done something?" Hermione asked, walking right over the hearth and looking at James.

"What – what are you talking about?" he asked nervously.

"_You_ are supposed to be dating Lily!" she frowned before arching an eyebrow at him, "You do have a crush on her, right?"

"W-well, I – I – " James stammered.

"Oh, good," Hermione sighed before looking over at Sirius, "What Houses are they in?"

"Snape's in mine – hate him, by the way, can never take a joke," Sirius sighed.

"Lily's in my House," Remus said.

Hermione bit her lip before looking between the four, "It needs to be done."

"What?" Peter asked as James blinked at her.

"Are you suggesting that we break them up so Potter can date her?" Sirius blinked, looking at her in surprise.

"Harry needs to be bo – " Hermione cut herself off as James gaped and stood.

"Are you saying I date Lily Evans, get married to her, and have a baby with her?" he asked.

"I didn't say all of that," Hermione said hurriedly, backing up and standing on the hearth.

"You didn't say I don't though," James said, grinning a little and stepping up closer. "Hermione, do I?"

"Maybe," she admitted.

"I do, don't I?" he was beaming now.

Hermione whimpered and clutched her hair, "Yeah. Yeah, you get married to her."

"Yes!" he cheered before picking her up and spinning her around once before setting her back down on the ground, ruffling up her hair, "So glad you're here!"

"I bet Snape won't be though," Sirius reminded, sitting upright and looking at them all seriously, "He's really mad for her. It's sickening, actually, and I think even she might think it's creepy."

"It'll take a bit more work if we start on him," Remus muttered, "However…with Lily…and I've got a bit more of an advantage, she at least likes me and knows me…."

"And then James will swoop in and charm her into dating him?" Peter asked.

"But Snape hates me," James blinked, "Lily must share the feelings."

"Not exactly," Remus said, "Ravenclaws kind of like every House that doesn't get on their nerves. There's no rivalry with us like with Gryffindor and Slytherin, we don't consider Hufflepuffs weak. So Lily really has no reason to hate you, and I think she even thinks you're great at Quidditch."

"Really?" James asked excitedly.

"I _think_," he reminded, "It might've been her or Gretchen Hornswaggle."

"Well, if Evans won't say yes, at least you've got Gretchen," Sirius grinned, "You'll make a very lovely Mister Horwnswaggle, Potter."

James frowned at him as Hermione did too.

"Knock it off, Padfoot," she glared, hands on her hips.

He looked at her curiously, as did everyone else, "What did you call me?"

She stared at him for a moment before slapping her hand to her forehead, "Forgot. Sorry."

"What's a 'padfoot'?" he asked, standing and tilting his head.

Hermione sighed and dragged her hands over her face, "You had nicknames. You were Padfoot, James was Prongs, Peter was Wormtail and Remus was Moony."

"Wormtail?" Peter asked incredulously, "Why do I get a lame nickname?"

"You were illegal animagi," Hermione said as they blinked, "Sirius was a big black dog, James was a stag, Peter was a rat and Remus was a – " she coughed, wincing a little, which the other boys didn't notice, " – a wolf."

"That's so…" Peter started, looking for the right word.

"Badass," Sirius grinned, "My parents would _kill_ me if I was an illegal _anything._"

"What's a stag again?" James asked, scratching his head.

"Male deer," Hermione answered. Sirius snorted in surprise as James gaped at her.

"I'm a deer?" he repeated incredulously.

"You have antlers," she shrugged.

"Oh, great, I could also be a freaking _moose_," he frowned, "He gets a dog, he gets a wolf, and I'm a _moose?_"

"Stag!" she insisted.

"At least you aren't a rat!" Peter huffed.

"Can we focus? The sooner we get Lily and James together, the better my timeline will be and the faster I can figure out how everything got so screwy that I got sent back twenty years into the past to where my best friend's father, his godfather and my ex-professor are still students!" Hermione huffed.

"What?" Remus blinked.

She stared at him blankly before cursing, "Dammit!"

* * *

**Hi! I dunno why I suddenly decided to write all of this now. But I had fun, and I hope you did too!**


	5. Boys Boys Boys

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyrics:_**_ "Don't do love, don't do friends, I'm only after success. Don't need a relationship, I'll never soften my grip. Don't want cash, don't want card. Want it fast, want it hard. Don't need money, don't need fame, I just want to make a change. I just wanna change, I just wanna change, I just wanna change, I just wanna change. I know exactly what I want and who I want to be. I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine. I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilling prophecy. Oh, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh!" – Marina and the Diamonds, "Oh No!"_

* * *

"So which one of us was your professor?" Sirius asked excitedly as Hermione stood on the ladder and shelved away books. When she was silent and refused to speak, he continued on. "Did you have a crush on him? Were you one of those girls who think they're deeply in love with their professors? _Ooh, _were you two _involved?_"

"What?" she asked, whirling around, "I was thirteen when I first met him, of course not!"

"That doesn't explain later on," he grinned as James and Remus winced at him, "Let's see – seventeen, right? That's legal. And you said the nineties and so that's twenty years…thirty seven and seventeen. Ehh, it's not so bad. I've got a set of grandparents where he's one hundred and seventy and she's around twenty-five." At their curious looks, he elaborated, "He remarried."

Hermione groaned and shoved the last book into a shelf, making her way down the ladder carefully.

"And besides, it's not like here there's a big age gap," Sirius continued happily, smiling at her, "I mean, say you really did like whoever it was who was your professor – this could totally be your chance!"

"Sirius," she said slowly, hands on her hips as she faced him, "Would you like to see what I learned from being in a War?"

He blinked down at her before Remus interjected, "No, he doesn't, if he values his life." Sirius looked over at him and Remus gave him a pointed look.

Sirius looked back down at Hermione before answering for himself, "No, ma'am." As she arched an eyebrow, he blinked, "Sir?" When the other eyebrow came up, he shrugged, "Look, I dunno what you want to be called. Would 'Sergeant Curly Hair' work?"

Hermione snorted and frowned at him, "No, it would not." She walked around to the hearth, picking up the few books that were there, "Look, I can't tell you who was who. I shouldn't even have told James what happens to him. I could seriously mess up more than I mean to."

"What do you mean to mess up, then?" Remus asked, grabbing a few books from her arms.

She bit her lip, looking down at a book, "Hopefully, things that will make stuff a whole lot better down the road." She shot a smile at him and took the books back, looking up at an extremely tall shelf to where the ladder didn't reach and getting out her wand. "Look, you guys need to work with Lily, and don't let her get back together with Snape afterwards."

Remus grinned at her as the other three tried to think about it, "Don't worry, I've got it under control. You just worry about worm holes and time differences and leave it to me."

* * *

"Hey, Lily," Remus smiled at the redhead as she did homework in the Common Room.

She looked up and smiled politely at him, "Hullo, Remus. How're you?"

"Fine," he said, sitting down in the armchair next to the couch, where she was currently seated, "Anything new with you?"

"Hmm, not much," she admitted, finishing her essay and stowing it away, "Although, Sev did flake on me again."

"I really can't believe how you're still with him, to be honest," Remus shrugged as she looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"Well, he does seem to have weird priorities," at her confused look, he explained, "Flaking off his girlfriend to go do whatever else? I mean, school, fine, that's understandable, and grades and whatever else – but wouldn't he tell you?"

"I…suppose," she frowned a little.

"Not to mention how he seems to act really clingy," he stated, "That must get a little creepy."

"Just a little, but…."

"I mean, it seems to me that, by the way he's acting, he's cheating on you."

"W-what?" Lily stammered.

"Yeah," Remus said innocently, "Flaking off on you often, getting really clingy, trying to make sure you won't leave him?"

"I don't follow," Lily said worriedly.

"Look, guys are weird, but if we have two girls and are trying to keep one hidden from the other, it looks an awful lot like what Snape's doing to you."

"But he can't possibly…" Lily caught herself, "I mean, Petunia said she never did like him, that he was sketchy, and a lot of my friends think so too, and he hangs around with _Malfoy_, and he's never once defended me against him, and…." She suddenly went very pale before her face got extremely red, standing up and grabbing her bag, "Thank you, Remus. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go break up with a greasy-haired prick."

"Have fun," Remus smiled as she walked out of the door, leaning happily back into the chair.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked once more as Remus dragged her down the hallways, nearly to the Great Hall until she finally grabbed the banister and stopped them both.

"I've got to show you!" Remus grinned.

"I can't go down there," she frowned, "People can't see me, especially not the professors."

"Oh," he blinked before stepping up to her and holding out his wand, "Hold still, and close your eyes." She looked at him curiously before doing as she was asked, hearing him mutter something under his breath before she was allowed to open her eyes. He grinned before grabbing her wrist again and dragging her down the remaining flights of stairs. She blinked when she saw that she was wearing a Ravenclaw uniform, grey tights instead of knee socks. As they were nearing the Great Hall, she passed a mirror and saw a heart-shaped face with green eyes and short, cropped brown hair staring back at her.

"I didn't give you permission to change my clothes," she hissed.

"You would've argued," he muttered back before pulling her in and dragging her along the wall, stopping near the Ravenclaw table and nodding his head over to where a redhead was being begged by a greasy-haired Slytherin.

"Please, Lily, I promise you, I'm not cheating on you!" he was heard.

"Fine then, even if you weren't, you're still clingy and flaky and I don't like who you hang out with, and it's downright creepy to date you!" Lily glared before standing and grabbing her bag, "And if you try anything at all, I will hex you six ways from Sunday! Understand, Snape?" And with that, she walked away from him, leaving him stunned and standing there. James had just been walking in, so she bumped into him, making him grin before looking at her worriedly, as she was probably crying. He immediately grabbed her arm and tugged her down to the empty end of the Gryffindor table.

"That was vindictive," Hermione told him, making him look down to see that she was giving him a small smile.

"Thank you," he gave a small bow, making her laugh a little. He blinked when an apple whizzed by his head, but Hermione easily caught it and blinked. They both turned to the direction it had come from, seeing Xeno smiling cheekily at him.

"Bye," Hermione practically sang, turning the other way and crunching the apple, making Remus watch her go in a dazed sort of look. He turned to look back at Xeno, who was watching him curiously, and he grinned and shrugged before following after her.

Xeno smiled and set his chin in his hand, looking back down at his breakfast, "It was totally a girl."

* * *

**Are these short? They seem rather short. I'm sorry.**


	6. I'm Seeing Stars

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyric: _**_"I don't mind spending every day out on your corner in the pouring rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while and she will be loved. And she will be loved." – Maroon 5, "She Will Be Loved"_

* * *

"So how long will this last again?" Hermione asked, turning the hand mirror she'd Transfigured a potted plant into so she could see her new hair better.

"Eh, only about an hour or so," Remus shrugged, leaning against the back of one of the couches, "Hope you don't mind I butchered your hair."

"Hmm," she hummed, moving the mirror, "It's not so much the hair as my clothes."

"I didn't see anything if that's what you're worried about," he said, plopping on one of the couches, "I just Transfigured them."

"Good," she muttered, glancing quickly at her arm before standing and walking around him, "Don't you have classes today? Or are you planning on playing hooky?"

"Hah, no, just waiting until breakfast is over, then I'll go to class," he said as she sat down next to him, just a cushion over. "So can I ask stuff about you? I barely know anything."

She hummed and looked over at him before shrugging, "Alright. If I don't want to answer it, I won't."

"Fair enough," he grinned, "What House are you in?"

"Gryffindor," she smiled back.

"Didn't know that," he hummed, leaning against the cushion and facing her, "D'you play any sports?"

"Not Quidditch, if that's what you're asking," she told him, "I'm terrified of heights. I did used to play football, when I could find people to play with. I did rope my friends into doing it once after I quickly explained the game, and they never wanted to play me again, because I beat a majority of the boys." Remus laughed as she grinned at the memory, "Yeah, they accused me of telling them the wrong rules or something. Their sister and Harry said 'how hard is it to kick a black-and-white ball into a net'?"

"Do you miss them?" he asked.

Hermione sighed, and Remus feared he'd gone into forbidden territory, but she answered, "Yes. So much. I miss them and my parents and my cat."

"I've got a dog," he said after a few moments, "He's barmy, but you've got to love him."

"I had a dog growing up, but he died when I was around four," Hermione hummed, "I've forgotten his name."

Remus suddenly sat up and stared at her, making her look up and blink at him. They stayed like that for a moment before he grinned, "That's it."

"What?" she questioned, "My late dog's name?"

"No," he shook his head, "I was thinking – a pensieve!"

"Uhm, that won't get me home," Hermione frowned at him.

"No, but it can explain what happened around you the night you left your time," he said, "If we figure out how you got here, we can figure out how to get you back."

Hermione lit up and beamed, "Oh, Remus, that's brilliant! Thank you!" She kissed his cheek before grabbing his wrist and towing him out of the Room of Requirement, letting go and walking past the door a few times before going back in and beaming at the instrument, sitting on the edge of the hearth. She turned back to him and smiled, "I can wait until you've gotten classes out of the way, it might be easier to see more with two."

"Alright," he smiled and nodded, waving to her and heading back out into the hall. Once the door was shut, he made a noise of surprise and touched his cheek. He checked back over his shoulder at the door, wondering what to do with what had just happened before shaking his head and making his way to the dorms to get his bag.

* * *

**I am on a roll today! I dunno why. Hoping it stays!**


	7. Memories

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyrics: _**_"What you do to me. I could write a book or three. Ripples run around your thumb back to where you started from. Messages we send, we're together in the end. Heckles when they die away, a little for another day. Shivers on my skin, head is in a spin. Nerves are stood and shaking, hearts were made for breaking. Look into your eyes, happy in disguise. All the way, they'll feel us back to Mars. I'm seeing stars." – the Kinnardlys, "Seeing Stars"_

* * *

"Great, you're back!" Hermione smiled when he walked in, making him smile a little bit too. She'd apparently been reading while he'd had classes, obviously trying to ignore the temptation of going through her memories alone. She'd apparently read anything that had captured her attention for a while and then moved on to the next thing. She'd tied her hair back and was jumping up from the couch.

"Yeah," he grinned back as he took his bag from around his shoulders and stepped towards her as she walked towards the pensieve. She got out her wand and pulled the memory out, moving it to the silver dish as she looked up at him.

"Ready?" she questioned.

"Yeah," he nodded, plunging his hand in with hers, their worlds tilting and spilling them into the memory.

Remus looked around the house, at the dark wood floors and the walls with numerous pictures on them, most containing redheads in the frames. There was a clock resting on a pile of laundry, making him lean forward to see that there were numerous hands, all with various names. Most seemed to be pointing towards "home," although one pointed to "lost," the name on that hand being "Fred." He looked over at Hermione, blinking when he saw her on the couch, a book in her hands and different clothes on.

"Memory, remember?" she spoke into his ear, making him jump and find the correct Hermione smirking at him. He grinned sheepishly at her as she chuckled, turning her attention back to the memory.

She'd looked up when somebody had entered the room, giving a small smile at the black haired man as he sat down by her feet, sighing and leaning into the cushions, running a hand through his hair and inadvertently showing off a lightning bolt scar.

"You okay?" the Past Hermione asked, making him look over and smile before groaning.

"I'm tired and I hate gnomes," he said, making her laugh a little, "That is my answer. Use it to create your own deductions."

She chuckled and patted his leg, "I'm sorry, Harry. Have you got the time?"

Harry nodded and pulled up his left hand, squinting for a bit, "It's nearly ten." His eyes widened and he blinked over at her, "Have I been de-gnoming the backyard for four hours?"

"'Fraid so," Past Hermione grinned before leaning forward and pecking his temple, making Remus blink and tilt his head curiously. "G'night, Harry. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, you're probably going to have to come see me, because I will be too sore to move," Harry grumbled as she stood. "Good night, Hermione. Don't forget the charms."

"Alright," she said, patting his head and moving around to the staircase. Remus made to follow her, and he checked over his shoulder to see the right Hermione looking sadly down at Harry as he rubbed at his eyes. She shook her head and followed Remus up the stairs, the Past Hermione coming to the landing and gasping as she held on to the railing.

"Oh, George!" Past Hermione huffed, a little peeved as a tall redhead stepped out and scooped up a small, pink thing.

"Thought you were Percy," he muttered, rubbing a finger into the pink thing to make it calm down and quit making small, chirping noises.

Past Hermione softened and patted George's cheek, "Might want to try to make that blend into things. I noticed it right before I stepped on it."

"Proto-type," George gave a small grin as she walked past, "G'night, Hermione."

"Night, George," she smiled back before opening a door and poking her head in. "Night Ginny, Luna, I'm heading off to bed."

"Good night, Hermione," two voices called, one sounding more airy than the other. She smiled and shut the door, heading to one at the end before pausing at one next to the previous door and opening it up, "Night, Ron!" A snort resounded before she shut the door, making her continue down the hall and step into the room, Remus and Hermione slipping in as well.

She scrunched up her hair after tossing the book aside, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She grabbed several blankets and wrapped herself up in them, her tongue sticking out as Hermione snorted at herself.

"I had no idea I did that," she muttered to Remus, making him grin a little.

"Wand, wand, wand – shit," Past Hermione sighed, wiggling to untangle herself again to reach into a pocket in her shorts to pull her wand out and cast a few charms. She rewrapped herself and curled up on the bed, dozing off fairly quickly.

Hermione and Remus were unceremoniously dumped on the floor of the Room of Requirement, tangled in each other as Hermione huffed.

"Well, that did nothing," she muttered before blinking at their legs and blushing a little bit with him.

"Maybe we need more vantage points," Remus pointed out, working with her to untangle themselves, "We only followed you – maybe we need to follow the others too."

"Good point," Hermione hummed before blinking when the door opened as Sirius blinked before grinning at them.

"Uhm – should I come back?" he asked as they glared at him.

"Stupid pensieve," Hermione huffed before Remus finally stood and helped her up, dusting themselves off.

"We were looking through her memories, trying to figure out what happened to make her come here," Remus explained.

"Huh," Sirius hummed, "And, uhh, how many trips do you assume you'll make?"

"Probably a lot," she sighed, running her hands through her hair.

"So was that your boyfriend?" Remus asked, making her look up and look at him curiously.

"What? Who?" she asked.

"Harry," he shrugged as Sirius watched close by.

"Pfft," Hermione chuckled, "No – not Harry. Harry and Ginny are dating." She slapped her hands over her mouth, glaring at him, "Stop making me say stuff about the future – I'll muck it up!"

"I'm not _making_ you do anything," he argued.

"You distract me and catch me off guard – "

"No, I – "

"I _hate _being distracted and you – "

Sirius grinned behind his hand, catching on fairly quickly as to what was going on that the two couldn't see for themselves as of yet. Well, he decided, he'd just have to confront one of them about it sooner or later.

Now _that_ would be fun.

* * *

**Is anybody else excited for the Disney marathon on ABCFamily or is it just me?**


	8. Heartbeat

**Before we get into this chapter – I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what feelings I may cause. But let me tell you this – he's a fighter. He's strong and he won't give up. And I believe that with enough support from anyone, especially people they love and care about, they're strong too. Doing something alone doesn't necessarily make you strong, because it's hard. But opening up about it and getting through it with someone does, because I believe it's so hard to tell someone a very painful truth.**

**_Completely Related Song Lyrics: _**_"We're on an open bed truck on the highway. Rain is pouring down and we're on the run. I think I can feel the breath in your body. We've got to keep on running 'til we see the sun. Oh, you've got a fire and it's burning in the rain. Thought that it went out, but it's burning just the same. And you don't look back, not for anything, cause you love someone, you love them all the same. If you love someone, you love them all the same." – the Fray, "Heartbeat"_

* * *

Remus wasn't watching him. He wasn't, because he knew Hermione was. He was watching Hermione, because he saw the look of sadness and worry and complete _guilt_ wash over her face when he first started in.

They'd gone back in the memories, this time an hour or two before Hermione had gone back to bed. They'd decided to follow George, and had found him in his room, sitting in the near-dark and hunched over a desk. One bed was messy and had blankets strewn everywhere, the other in a much better state but still messy all the same. George looked like a statue, his eyes unfocused on a spot on the desk, fingers laced together. He stayed like that for a while until he started rubbing a spot on his wrist, glancing between it and a pair of scissors nearby. When Hermione saw this, she started shaking her head, pleading with the memory not to do it.

George stood up suddenly and slammed his hands on the desk, making both Remus and Hermione jump back in alarm as he got out his wand.

"No, George, don't - !" Hermione began to argue before she saw him vanishing scissors, staplers, shaving razors, anything he could've used to harm himself. When they were gone, he took a few steps towards the door with his back turned, a determined frown on his face before he reared his arm back and lobbed his wand over a bookshelf. When that was done, he sighed and dragged his hands across his face.

"Oh my Merlin," he said, once he allowed his face to snap back into place. "I'm so sick and tired of being sad." He frowned up at the ceiling, "You prick. Couldn't have stepped two inches to the right, could you? Bah, lookit me. Arguing with my dead twin. S'not much of an argument. Kind of one sided really. You're an awful arguer now, Fred." George snorted and gave a weak smile, rubbing at an eye, "And I must, apparently, be going crazy, hmm? What was that Muggle book you read when we were younger? Something about a rabbit hole…hmm. Wish I could remember. Might check later." He shoved his hands in his pockets and circled around the desk, looking over notes, "Anyway – this is all rubbish, can't understand any of it. Don't know why you can't wait to wake up and write down ideas like I do. Half of this is in gibberish and the other half doesn't make sense." He stopped and frowned at himself, "Then again, I'm talking to myself, so I really shouldn't judge."

During this, Hermione was following him, tears in her eyes as she watched him. Remus wanted to find some way to comfort her, as she obviously had no idea this had gone on and was extremely upset.

"You know," George stated after a moment, "I have thought about it more than that. Entirely too often. Basically what it would feel like to just…not feel anything. Not feel the hurt and the sadness and the _loneliness _– God, Fred, I'm so lonely, it physically hurts. I feel like I've got this gaping hole in my chest…and in my head." His mouth twitched a little and Hermione snorted, making Remus blink and look around George's hair to see that he was missing an ear. "But it got bad tonight. But then I thought about Mum, and Dad, Bill and Fleur, Charlie and Percy, and Ron and Ginny and even Harry and Hermione. They're all so upset over you being gone…I'd hate to think of what it would feel like for them if I were gone too. Because, y'know, apparently, they really do love us. I always did say Granger probably fancied either one of us in school – or both. That would've been trippy. The perfect Prefect, fancying the Weasley twins? Hogwarts would've spun."

Hermione was crying openly now, and was trying not to make it so noticeable that Remus saw. But he did.

"But I guess I've got responsibilities," George frowned, settling down on the messiest bed, "Like the shop. If I died, who would get that? Ugh, what if it was Ron? The Bludger's our brother, and everything, but he hasn't got an ounce of humor in him some days. And Harry and Ginny are dating, and if I'm not around to play protective older brother, I don't know who will. And I heard Fleur's preggers, so I've got to stick around for that and argue with Charlie about being the godfather. And, plus, we've really got to make Hermione lighten up more – I mean, the girl has been out of our range for two, three years, and I don't think once I've ever seen her laugh so hard she couldn't breathe. At least, not around us. And so, my dear dead twin, that is why my wand will remain on that bookshelf and all sharp objects will be dispelled from my immediate area without supervision until those _thoughts_ start to wane. I might even tell the resident therapist about it. You know how Hermione's been aching to see how our brains work. If not for me, then for Mum, Dad, and the whole Weasley clan."

He concluded with his speech by standing and bowing, narrowly missing the corner of the desk and wincing before picking up a paper that had fluttered down by the movement. "Squeaking splotches…? Hmm…alright, I'll try it. Hope you had an idea of what you were talking about."

Several hours later and George was holding a squeaky pink blob in the palm of his hand. Smiling a little, he stepped out of his room and headed to the stairwell to drop it by the landing and hiding in a corner, waiting for his intended victim.

"Oh, George!" Past Hermione huffed, a little peeved as he stepped out.

"Thought you were Percy," he lied, rubbing a finger into the pink thing to make it calm down and quit making small, chirping noises.

Past Hermione softened and patted George's cheek, "Might want to try to make that blend into things. I noticed it right before I stepped on it."

"Proto-type," George gave a small grin as she walked past, "G'night, Hermione."

"Night, George," she smiled back before heading on to Ginny's room to say goodnight to her and Luna.

George turned back to his room, muttering to himself, "I'll be sure to tell her tomorrow."

And it was then that when Hermione and Remus were dumped into separate piles on the Room of Requirement floor, Hermione curled up on herself and cried. Remus, at a loss for what to do, scooted closer to her and looked at her worriedly.

"I – I had no idea – I had no idea we nearly lost him," Hermione explained as Remus awkwardly guided her into his side, leaning against the couch. "I had no idea he was thinking that way. I wish I'd known; I wish he'd told me when they'd started."

"He probably thought they'd go away before they got bad," Remus tried, running his hands through her hair soothingly, "And he didn't want to worry anybody about them."

"That makes sense," she mumbled after a moment.

He smiled softly, "Yeah, I should know." At her curious look, he shrugged, "I thought about it, once or twice, when I was younger. Having a monster inside of you isn't exactly the best thing for a teenager with low self-esteem. Plus, puberty? Not fun."

She frowned, instead of laughing at his puberty joke like he'd expected, "You're not a monster. Absolutely no part of you is a monster."

"Believe me, Hermione – it is," he said, still with the soft smile.

She shook her head, getting that gleam back in her eyes, "You're only a monster if you're like Fenrir Greyback and enjoy killing innocent people. You don't even have to have lycanthropy – I know several people back in my time who could easily be described as monsters." She paused, casting a glance at her arm and chewing on her lower lip.

"Who said anything about lycanthropy?" Remus blinked at her.

Hermione blinked back and looked up, "Huh?"

"My genetic material was infused with gamma radiation – when I get mad I turn into this green monster," he said with a straight face. Once Hermione was staring at him funny, he gave a lopsided grin and a wink, "Gotcha."

"Oh my gosh!" she gaped as he laughed, "You totally made me believe you were the Incredible Hulk for a second!"

"I am amazed at both the ease of which you believed in me, and the fact that you caught the reference," he grinned brightly.

"Of course I did!" she huffed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"To which one?" he asked, toning down the smile a bit.

She shrugged easily, not meeting his eyes, "Both."

Remus blinked, tilting his head at her curiously before the door opened and they turned to see who had come in. James, Sirius and Peter stood by, craning their heads in to look at them.

"It's a Hogsmeade day," James explained, walking full into the room, "We wanted to see if you were able to come."

"Yeah," Hermione smiled, picking herself up before dusting her jeans off.

"But, wait, how are we going to sneak you out of the castle?" Sirius questioned, "Filch is practically herding all of us out of the doors. I'm surprised we haven't got individual tags with numbers on them."

Remus blinked at him, "You don't understand simple sciences, but you understand how cows are tagged?"

"My parents were selective in their teachings," he shrugged.

"I believe James has the solution," Hermione smiled at him as he grinned.

"I'm amazed at how you know these things," he said, taking something out of his pocket and handing it to her, allowing her to unfold it. The three boys blinked when the lower half of her disappeared.

"Whoa!" Peter piped up.

"Is that an Invisibility Cloak?" Remus questioned, stepping closer and picking up a piece of the fabric.

"That is so wicked," Sirius stated simply.

"We know," Hermione and James smirked at each other.

* * *

**Okay, let me just say – if you ever have any of those feelings, feeling that you're worthless or crummy or you think it'd just be best to not feel anything never ever again _come and talk to me._ PM me, go to tumblr and talk to me through anon, heck – you can even review to this story or any of my recent stories and tell me and I will carry on this conversation with you and everybody else can get pissed off and stop reading my stuff _but I won't care._**

**You are important, no matter what anybody says differently. After all, '_nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never met anyone who wasn't important._'**

**Love,**

**Emilee**


	9. Give All My Secrets Away

**It might've been a while since I updated. Sorry. **

_**Completely Unrelated Song Lyric: **"I need another story, something to get off my chest. My life gets kind of boring, needs something that I can confess. Til all my sleeves are stained red from all the truth that I've said, come by it honestly I swear that you saw me wink, no, I've been on the brink so tell me what you want to hear, something that were like those years. I'm sick of all the insincere so I'm gonna give all my secrets away." - OneRepublic, "Secrets_

* * *

Hermione was smiling when she pulled off the Cloak and scared the other boys nearly half to death. It was a nice, easy distraction from finding out what George had been going through, but it would, of course, only be a distraction. At the end of the day, she would be left alone with an already building sense of guilt. But the Marauders – or, sort of Marauders – could guess that she was upset and were trying to cheer her up.

It'd been ages since she'd gone anywhere besides the Room of Requirement or the kitchens. The 1970s were so different, yet somehow similar when it came to the Wizarding World. There was still Honeyduke's, the Three Broomsticks, the Hog's Head, and the never-aging Rosmerta. It seemed that the only differences were in the Muggle world and the people.

"Oy, Spacey Lady!" Sirius said, grabbing her attention at the same time he grabbed her shoulders and looked curiously at her, "You alright?"

"Fine," she lied, and one look at Remus's face said he knew it, but she ignored it all the same, "So, where're we off to, boys?"

"Wherever you want to go," Peter shrugged, "We've been here countless times, its kind of lost the appeal. So, since you're new, wherever you want to go, lead the way."

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him and pursed her lips as James and Remus grimaced at once another, Sirius trying to hide his grin.

"Uhm," Hermione finally spoke up, "Peter, I've been here before."

He blinked before getting a sheepish look, "Oh, right. Knew that."

"How's about to the Three Broomsticks then?" Sirius asked, "And then you can see how I can win over Madame Rosmerta."

Hermione even snorted at him, making him frown at her as she grinned cheekily at him. "Sorry," she smiled as she opened the door, "Force of habit."

As the four sat down and allowed Sirius to try to win the woman over, James tilted his head curiously to Hermione.

"Hermione, are you alright?" he asked worriedly as Remus glanced over at her.

"Fine, yeah, totally," she lied while the two exchanged looks and frown disbelievingly at her and Peter watched the exchange. She gave a huff, sending a lock of her hair into the air. "No, I'm not, but I'm dealing with it."

"Is it about George?" Remus asked.

"Who's George?" Peter questioned.

"That's not the point," Hermione said.

"It's totally the point," Remus countered.

"I was talking to Peter," she frowned back.

"Oh my Merlin, all of you are already giving me a headache," James muttered before placing his hands across the table, leaning over most of it to frown up at her as she blinked at him. "Look, Hermione, I know not all of us are exactly close, but you can't keep whatever's eating you bottled up."

"Something's eating you?" Sirius asked, coming back with a tray of drinks in his arms, looking curiously at her.

"Yes," she snapped back, "And all four of them have names." She sighed and rubbed her eyes, "Look, if I could get through it alone before, I can get through it now."

"I had that same mindset before too, you know," Remus said, making her look up at him, "And even then I knew I was lying."

"Just…" she sighed, "Just leave it alone for now, boys."

They shared doubtful looks before Sirius nodded and finally sat down, "So, Rosmerta shot me down."

"What a surprise," Hermione said drily, making James crack a grin.

They spent most of Hogsmeade wandering around and talking and joking as if they'd been friends for ages. They'd even been talking and gotten Hermione a little excited to where she jumped up a few times until they started laughing. It then took the four of them ten minutes to make her talk again after explaining that it was cute and it was an entirely different side of her that they hadn't been expecting at all. But it still wouldn't get rid of the blush for another thirty minutes.

By the end of the trip, they were starting to head back to the castle when Hermione had been yanked back by her hair and was met face to face with a very pale man and extremely long blonde hair. When they'd turned around to see why she'd disappeared and why she'd given a yelp, Sirius's heart jumped up to his throat as he saw his three cousins and Lucius Malfoy. Bellatrix was looking at him curiously while Narcissa chided Lucius about pulling on the girl's hair, as even though she was wary of her, she wouldn't condone yanking on it, as she knew it downright hurt. Andromeda, however, was looking between her cousin and the other three boys very quietly, a small and pleasant smile on her face.

"And who are you?" Lucius asked Hermione, his hand still in his hair.

Hermione replied in a very clipped tone, "Hermione Geller. And just _who_ are _you?_" She glared right back at him.

"Geller, hm?" Bellatrix circled the pair, "Never heard of that name. So, tell me – are you a Mudblood?"

"Bella," Andromeda and Sirius both chided.

"Why do you care?" Hermione asked, reaching her hands up and yanking her hair back, taking a few steps away from Lucius as the leftover students hung back and watched.

"What would filth be doing around our cousin?" Bellatrix asked.

"I'm not filth," Hermione ground her teeth as Remus slowly grabbed her arm and started to pull her behind him.

"Hey, look, leave her alone," Sirius started. "Guys, go on, I've got this."

"Oh, look, it's the little Gryffindor brat," Lucius stated, glaring right back at James, "And let's see…Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw? Why, Sirius, it seems that you've been incorporating diversity. Tell me, though, wouldn't that seem a little risky, considering who you're friends with?"

"Hardly," Sirius quipped back, his wand out as he backed up with them, "As I highly doubt they'd do anything to themselves." At Lucius's dumbfounded look and Andromeda's eager one, he gave a grin, "I hate being in Slytherin. I hate all of this 'blood purity' crap and I really, _really_ hate you, Lucius. You're slimy, greasy, no-good, and I have no idea _what_ Narcissa sees in you. Oh, and here's a headliner – they are _not_ 'Mudbloods,' they should have the right to be proud of coming from a different world than ours and, if I may speak honestly, I think they're pretty cool." He turned to James, Remus, Hermione and Peter and grimaced, "And now we depart." He then sprinted down the path, making them blink and scramble after him.

"Are you sure you wanted to do that?" Hermione questioned as she slowed him down, as he was looking worriedly over his shoulder.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "I mean, the only reason I didn't do it earlier was because I'd end up having to go home to my parents and I'd have however many years of my former 'friends' giving me grief for it. At least it's my last year, and I am seventeen, so – "

"Sirius!"

"Ahh!" he screamed, hiding behind Hermione, who was already getting out her wand with the other boys before she saw it was Andromeda and immediately lowered it.

"They sent me up here to try to talk reason into you, but I am _so proud_ of you, Sirius," Andromeda said, stepping up to her cousin and grinning brightly at him.

"You – you have the same mindset?" he blinked in surprise.

"Always have," she grinned before hugging him tightly, "Ohh, I'm so very proud of you, Siri. If your parents _ever_ try to judge you for it, you can talk to me or even come and stay with me if you need to. Just do me a favor and don't leave your brother behind, he thinks the world of you, Sirius, and if you took enough time and effort and patience, you could really get him to change his beliefs too."

"How long have you - ?" he started before she cut him off with another grin.

"_Way_ before I started secretly dating Ted Tonks," she grinned brightly before pecking his forehead and starting off back down to Hogsmeade, "Bye! Write me!"

Sirius stared dumbfounded after his cousin before finally noticing Hermione's smug looking smile, "You knew."

She bit her lip in an effort to stop smiling, "Maybe."

"You fucking knew!" he gaped as she chuckled and grabbed the Cloak back from James, throwing it over her and vanishing. "Oy! I am not done with you! Why didn't you tell me! Hey!"

Remus chuckled as Sirius raced off down the path, thinking he was chasing after her, and smiled with James and Peter when her head and shoulders reappeared in the same spot. She rolled her eyes and winked at Remus before disappearing again.

"Well," James began as they walked with his hands in his pockets, "The school year should be very interesting now."

"What, and it wasn't before?" Remus grinned, chuckling when something swatted his shoulder.

* * *

**I really think Andromeda would've laid low with Ted until he asked her to marry him. Then she would've been all 'see ya suckers' and ran off. And sometimes I really forget that Sirius has a brother, he's seen so little.**


	10. Something That I Want

**Hey guys! **

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyric: _**_"She's a girl with the best intentions. He's a man of his own invention. She looked out the window, he walked out the door. But she followed him and he said, "What'cha lookin' for?" She said, "I want something that I want, something that I tell myself I need, something that I want and I need everything I see." – Grace Potter, "Something That I Want"_

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Remus asked, curiously looking at Sirius perching on a chair in the Ravenclaw common room. He sighed and looked up at him, frowning a little.

"I am not allowed in the Slytherin dormitories," he grinned.

"They kicked you out?" he blinked.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed before standing and shoving his hands in his pockets, "I wandered around until this portrait asked me some weird question. I answered it and she opened up, so I came in and found the common room. Sorry."

"It's fine," Remus shook his head, "Come on, maybe we can get Hermione to help."

"I don't want to bug her," he shook his head, "Let's just head down to the kitchens. I'm starving."

"Alright," he nodded, following him out into the hallway. They were rather silent, possibly because of the fear of being caught, but also possibly because of nothing to say. After a while, though, Sirius spoke again.

"So what is it with you two?" he asked.

"Huh?" he blinked over at him.

"You and Hermione," he insisted, "There's something going on there."

Remus snorted and opened the portrait to the kitchen, "There's nothing going on."

"Oho, there's _something_," he hummed, walking around and smiling politely to a giddy elf, "'Lo. D'you think we could get something to eat?"

"Yes, sirs!" it said before happily leading him and Remus to a couple of chairs before bouncing away once they'd thanked it.

"Look, I'm just saying you two are on some different frequency than the rest of us," Sirius shrugged as Remus leaned further into his chair and glared at him.

"Your point?"

"I'm just saying that it seems like you two are – "

"Yeah, well, we're not," Remus huffed.

"Oh," Sirius said, staying silent for a few minutes before tilting his head curiously at him, "D'you want to be?"

Remus groaned and covered his face with his hands, making Sirius grin a little more at him. "I don't want to have this conversation. Talk about something else."

"Alright – do you fancy Hermione?" he said.

"That's the same bloody conversation!" he crowed.

"No it's not, it's entirely different! I asked if you wanted to date her, now I'm asking if you fancy her."

"Fancy who?" two voices echoed, making them look and see James and Xeno looking curiously back at them.

"What're you two doing down here?" Remus questioned.

"I came down for food," James shrugged, "I was reading up on stuff in the library and lost track of time. Missed dinner."

"I'm here because I still need some answers," Xeno said before grinning brightly, "But it seems the questions are already being asked. What's her name?"

"Hermione," Sirius answered as James blinked at the two, Xeno happily hopping into a free chair.

"Ooh, is she pretty, smart, nice?" Xeno asked, turning to his friend.

Remus rubbed his eyes with his palms, "I don't want to talk about this. Talk about something else, I don't want to talk about this."

"That's Remus Speak for: yes," Xeno translated before turning back to his friend as James sat down, "Does she know?"

Remus sighed and lifted his hands, "I know I'll regret asking this, but – know _what_?"

"That you fancy her!"

"Fancy who?"

They turned this time and blinked at Lily, who was holding an orange and smiling lightly at them.

"Lily, what are you doing here?" James asked.

"Snack," she shrugged easily, sitting down on the arm of Remus's chair, "So, who do you fancy, Remus?"

"I don't fancy any – "

"Her name's Hermione," Sirius supplied.

"Aw, lovely name," she cooed, patting his knee, "I'm so glad you've found someone, Remus."

"I haven't 'found' anyone!" he huffed, "I don't fancy her, she's just a friend!"

"Friends don't look at friends the same way you two look at each other," James snorted.

"I don't – she looks at me?" he caught himself, blinking curiously at them before shaking his head to get himself back on track, "No, no, shut up."

"Hah!" Xeno exclaimed happily, "You do!"

"I don't!" he argued.

"You _do!_" Lily said, hugging him tightly.

"No, I don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Ahh!" Sirius and James screamed, lurching back and looking up at the girl of the hour. Remus paled and Lily quickly snapped her arms back as Xeno blinked up at her.

"Err," Remus began.

"Who are you?" Xeno asked, hopping up and peering curiously at Hermione, circling around her.

"Depends on who you are," she frowned, hands on her hips as she watched him circle her.

"Xenophilius Lovegood, my friends call me Xeno," he grinned before tilting his head, "And your name?"

"Hermione," she said slowly, glancing at the three boys before turning back to Xeno, "Can I help you?"

"Huh? Oh, you just have a weird aura," he hummed, still smiling at her.

She arched an eyebrow at him, "And how is it weird?"

"It's like you're not supposed to be here, and yet you're not supposed to be anywhere else," he pursed his lips before shrugging, "By the way, a lot of people consider me crazy. Even Lily. Don't you, Lily?"

"Obviously," she smiled back before standing and looking at Hermione happily, "'Lo, I'm Lily Evans."

"Hermione," she nodded back, "Uhm…I suppose I should be leaving."

"Oh, no, don't go and do that," Sirius stood and gave a quick, evil grin to Remus before turning to her, "Stay, chat. You might learn something new."

"As tempting as that sounds, I've got work to do," she said before grabbing an apple and waving, "Bye, see you."

"Bye, nice meeting you," Lily and Xeno grinned, waiting until she was gone before they whirled around to Remus with massive grins on their faces.

"No!" he announced, pointing at them sternly as James and Sirius laughed.

* * *

**The Nile is not just a major river in Egypt in which many civilizations depended on and where many towns and cities were built near because they were in a fucking desert and where they built temples to worship their many gods, such as Horus who had a head of a hawk or Isis who had something to do with rainbows and also Set who fucked shit up and wait, what was my point in writing this.**


	11. Someone Only We Know

**_Completely Unrelated Song Lyric:_**_ "I came across a fallen tree, I felt the branches of it looking at me. Is this the place we used to love? Is this the place that I've been dreaming of? Oh simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on, so tell me when you're gonna let me in. I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin. And if you have a minute why don't we go talk about it somewhere only we know? This could be the end of everything, so why don't we go somewhere only we know?" – Keane, "Somewhere Only We Know"_

* * *

"Knock, knock, I brought – Hermione?" Remus blinked and saw that she was sitting curled up on the couch, glaring at the Pensieve with unshed tears in her eyes. Thinking back, he'd only ever seen Hermione really cry once, and it'd been about George. He dropped his bag and moved to sit closer to her, looking at her worriedly, "Hermione?"

"I give up," she said, her voice sounding hollow as she didn't even glance at him. "I don't care whether I get back or not. Not if it means I have to go through more of this. I just found out that Harry really only sat in the garden and felt sorry about himself rather than de-gnoming it like he said. I can't do this anymore." She stood and walked towards the hallway, "Feel free to keep looking, if you think it'll do any good. But I give up."

Remus stood and watched her go before taking another glance at the Pensieve. He should've known it would be hard for her, he should've guessed that it might upset her, but he hadn't thought about it when suggested the idea. Hadn't even known if it would've possibly worked. With a sigh, he picked up the Pensieve and shut it up in a cupboard in the kitchen, looking down the hall before deciding on slowly walking that way, ending up in the office. She wasn't there, and all of her notes and theories on paper were scattered about and a few were ripped up. Half of the chalkboard was erased, the other half angrily scribbled out. A numb thought entered his head – she was well and truly done. She'd had enough. She'd given up.

But where would that leave her? Stuck there and no way to get back? Although she'd stated multiple times that she'd have to go back first and then forward into her own time for everything to be the same.

He glanced at his watch and frowned. He had to get to class. He made a mental note to stop by as soon as he could, even if it meant skiving off. Perhaps he could get help from Sirius, James and Peter, they seemed just as worried about her as he did.

* * *

"She's given up?" James repeated, as if he still couldn't believe, although it had been a while since Remus had dropped by the Gryffindor table at lunch and hurriedly told him about it before slipping over to the Hufflepuff table and telling Peter the same thing. James had told Sirius when he'd sat down beside him, as James had convinced the other Gryffindors that he was fine and this wasn't a trick or anything.

"I know, and I'm worried," Remus stated, walking backwards as he talked, "I know she's stubborn, I know she's worried about her friends, but completely giving up? I just – ugh, I don't know about this girl."

"But, wait, so she'll be stuck here then?" Peter questioned, trying to keep up.

"She'd be stuck here either way if she couldn't find a way to get us into Gryffindor, and keep the timeline the same as when she'd been there. But her going back to the future is just as important, and if she couldn't go back here, she could get to the nineties and hopefully they'd have more advanced things so she would go back and change it."

"But, Remus, there's kind of a war going on," Sirius stated, "What if she went to the nineties and the wrong side won?"

"All the more reason for her to change it back to her timeline then," Remus said as he pushed open the door, blinking when he saw the lights out and her curled up on the couch. He stepped down next to her and crouched down, brushing away her hair and seeing that she had tear tracks down her face, her bangs still rather damp.

"I'd say she's not doing too well," Sirius murmured.

"Agreed," James nodded, grabbing a few books and shelving them in an effort to clean up.

Remus thought for a moment on how best to do this, as if he screwed up he could very well end up with a wand in his face, before slipping his arms underneath her and hoisting her up, shifting her slightly to carry her better. "Help me find her room," he mouthed to Sirius, who nodded and walked down the hall with him, opening a door and deciding that she probably didn't sleep in a bathtub before going right across the hall and opening the door.

He'd figured Hermione would have her room either much like a library, or much like a base camp with the bare necessities. It looked more like a regular room, with pale blues and greens and purples all over, her furniture white. He wondered if this is what her room at home looked like, and not at the Weasleys' either, but with her mum and dad. He wondered if she half expected a ginger cat with a squished in face, much like the one from a picture she'd showed him, to hop up on her bed or on her desk while she was doing something without him.

No wonder she'd given up. She was practically alone. She had no mother or father or friends that she could whole-heartedly trust there with her. She didn't even have her cat.

Remus set her down on the bed and took the blanket that Sirius held out to him, settling it over her and taking another look around before heading back to the living room to see James and Peter sitting on the couch, staring at the Pensieve with rather shocked expressions.

"Did you get that out again?" Remus asked as Sirius looked at the two curiously.

"Err – maybe," James said hurriedly as Peter flushed in embarrassment.

Remus rolled his eyes, "I keep telling you, she says she's given up."

"Uh-huh – hey, so a quick theory Peter and I just thought up," James said, standing and gesturing a bit, although he wouldn't look him in the eye, "So say her friends wanted her to find her – let's say this loosely – 'soul mate.' And, say her soul mate was older than her and dead in her time period. Would them wanting or wishing hard enough to find him send her back to our time?"

"It seems very unlikely, but then again so does going twenty years into the past, so I wouldn't doubt it," he said before arching an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Err – so we looked and, uhm, according to Ginny and Luna, they said they thought that if their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in their third year had been the same age as Hermione, they probably would've dated," James fidgeted a little, glancing back at Peter, who held a pillow up as a shield.

"Well who is that, then?"

"Err…you," James said sheepishly, making him stare blankly at him for a few moments before snorting and rolling his eyes.

"Right, alright, no really," Remus grinned a little.

"No, really," James insisted, Peter nodding along furiously.

Remus looked between the two before frowning, "Alright, if this is some kind of joke it's a lousy one."

"Err – mate, they aren't joking," Sirius said, making Remus look and see that he'd just pulled his head up out of the Pensieve, nodding at him. "They really did."

"What the – no, no way, that couldn't have brought her here," Remus insisted, shaking his head and hoping that he wasn't blushing like he thought. "There must be some other – it just isn't _possible!_"

"What isn't?"

Remus whirled around and blinked at Hermione, who had the blanket wrapped around her and was looking at him rather dully, arch an eyebrow at them. James and Sirius quickly shook their heads at him and he finally opened his mouth, dearly hoping that he knew what was going to come out of it.

"Convincing Sirius's brother to be – urm – good," Remus said.

Hermione blinked at him before shrugging, "It should be relatively easy. He's already got the thought in there, just a little bit of coaxing from his big brother ought to do the trick."

"Err – great then," Sirius said, scratching his head and staring wide-eyed at James, "Uhm, c'mon Potter, let's go try to find him. Peter, why don't you come too."

"Alright," the two said, Peter jumping up from the couch and hurrying along behind Sirius.

Remus fidgeted a little and she looked at him curiously once more.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Are you?" he countered.

She sighed and flopped onto the couch, bringing her knees o her chest and covering them up with the blanket, "No. But whatever."

Remus sat down next to her and looked at her worriedly, "Tell me, Hermione."

She sighed again, tilting her head to the ceiling before dragging her hands across her face, "I can't keep hurting myself like that. I understand it's selfish, but I just can't. Besides, that should've been the last thing we did – I wouldn't be able to go back unless all four of you were Gryffindors and everything was back into place. I just thought…" She shook her head once more and leaned into Remus's side, making him blink a little before running his hands through her hair. "I don't know what I thought."

"It'll be alright, Hermione," Remus promised, moving them so that she was leaning against his chest with his legs propped up on either side of her.

She hummed, staying silent with him before tilting her head up at him and quirking a grin, "So, what'd you bring me?"

"Huh?" he asked smartly as she grinned a little bit wider.

"This morning you said you brought something. What was it?"

He blinked at her before grinning back, using his wand to bring his bag over and digging through it before finally pulling out the book. She lit up and took it from him, chuckling a little.

"Well, you did say you read it hundreds of times," Remus said, making her shake her head at the title.

"At least it doesn't have Spell-o Tape like mine did," she said, opening _Hogwarts: A History_ and flipping through it. She leaned up and pecked him on the cheek, making him freeze for a moment before she leaned into him again, "Thanks, Remus."

"Anytime," he said, hoping to Merlin that his voice didn't just crack like he thought it had.

* * *

**Does that make any sense? I dunno. Who are you people and why do you think I make sense?**


End file.
